Source: ISCA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. submitted to
NOVEL ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CONTROL OF THE CITRUS LEAF MINER, THE PROLIFERATOR OF CITRUS CANKER, WITH SEX PHEROMONE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0213584
Grant No.
2008-33610-18879
Project No.
CALK-2008-00446
Proposal No.
2008-00446
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
8.12
Project Start Date
May 15, 2008
Project End Date
Jan 14, 2009
Grant Year
2008
Project Director
mafra-neto, A.
Recipient Organization
ISCA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
2060 Chicago Ave. Suite C2
RIVERSIDE,CA 92507
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Valued at 1.7 billion in 2000, the US has the second largest citrus industry in the world. Among the pests plaguing the industry is the citrus leaf miner, which not only damages citrus plants, but opens the door for devastating diseases, including citrus canker. In response to consumer demand, citrus growers managing the CLM seek low-risk alternatives to traditional pesticides that utilize equipment they already possess. ISCA Technologies SPLAT (Specialized Pheromone & Lure Application Technology) is a mating disruption tool that incorporates insect sex pheromones into an emulsion capable of flowing out of backpack sprayers and tractors. We intend to formulate SPLAT with the CLM pheromone, creating a rain-fast product that sticks to foliage, protecting and releasing the pheromone for four to six months. Applied mechanically, this formulation will be tested among field populations of CLM with monitoring traps and tethered females. The results and information acquired from this project will be dispersed to key stakeholders in the citrus industry, including growers, universities, and end-users. The majority of citrus growers in the US grow citrus on farms of less than 100 acres for the production of specialty table fruit, citrus juice, with the majority of farms yielding less than $200,000 in farm income. Furthermore, much of the citrus orchard acreage is being encroached by urban growth, making it impossible to use many of the pest management tools available to the more rural growers. Successful completion of this project will provide small citrus growers with a valuable tool for managing the CLM. If labeled organic, SPLAT CLM has the potential to for use throughout the industry, including those orchards that cannot or do not use conventional pesticides.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2110999113060%
2110999303040%
Knowledge Area
211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
0999 - Citrus, general/other;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology; 3030 - Information and communication;
Goals / Objectives
Valued at 1.7 billion in 2000, the US has the second largest citrus industry in the world. Among the pests plaguing the industry is the citrus leaf miner, which not only damages citrus plants, but opens the door for devastating diseases, including citrus canker. In response to consumer demand, citrus growers managing the CLM seek low-risk alternatives to traditional pesticides that utilize equipment they already possess. ISCA Technologies SPLAT (Specialized Pheromone & Lure Application Technology) is a mating disruption tool that incorporates insect sex pheromones into an emulsion capable of flowing out of backpack sprayers and tractors. We intend to formulate SPLAT with the CLM pheromone, creating a rain-fast product that sticks to foliage, protecting and releasing the pheromone for four to six months.
Project Methods
We intend to formulate SPLAT with the CLM pheromone, creating a rain-fast product that sticks to foliage, protecting and releasing the pheromone for four to six months. Applied mechanically, this formulation will be tested among field populations of CLM with monitoring traps and tethered females. The results and information acquired from this project will be dispersed to key stakeholders in the citrus industry, including growers, universities, and end-users.

Progress 05/15/08 to 01/14/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: One of the biggest obstacles identified by stakeholders is the cost of SPLAT CLM. The cost is based on the manufacturing of SPLAT and the synthesis of the pheromone components. Our largest cost is associated with the synthesis of the triene. In response to this we did a large, 25 treatment, field trial to determine the effectiveness of CLM disruption in commercial Florida orchards using the complete and incomplete blends. All these data have been shared with growers in Florida and California, in field days and citrus growers association meetings. In Phase II we will be working towards an more efficient and economic formulation for the CLM. PARTICIPANTS: We worked intensively with Dr. Lukasz Stelinski's group, of Lake Alfred, University of Florida; and Dr. Stephen L. Lapointe, Research Entomologist USDA, ARS, U.S. Horticultural Research Lab. Fort Pierce, Florida. TARGET AUDIENCES: All our data and findings so far have been shared with growers of Florida and California, either in direct conversations, in field days, farm visits and citrus growers (association) meetings. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: NONE

Impacts
The ratio of female sex pheromone components (3:1 triene:diene) as present in the pheromone glands of female P. citrella was a potent attractant in the field. Attraction to baited traps declined markedly as the ratio departed from this ratio with little interaction between proportion and amount. The response surface generated in the disruption trial, however, was markedly different compared with the attraction trial. The straight line described by the response surface corresponding to the highest pheromone concentration and X1-X2 axis visually demonstrates that trap shutdown increased in direct proportion to the concentration of the triene component with no synergistic or antagonistic blending effects between the diene and the triene. This lack of blending suggests that an unnatural ratio consisting of one or the other of the single components could be as effective as the natural blend for mating disruption. We tested the hypothesis in a large, replicated, 25 treatment, field trial. The lack of blending together with the general lack of congruence between the response surfaces generated for attraction and disruption (trap shutdown) support the conclusion of Stelinski et al. 2007 that disruption in this species is a noncompetitive phenomenon. If disruption were competitive, congruence between the response surfaces for attraction and disruption would be expected. In phase I, we were able to determine the effectiveness in promoting mating disruption of CLM of the different SPLAT formulations, but we weren't able to determine how long the effect lasted because we had to stop our field experiment after 26 days, and another experiment at 80 days. We will determine in Phase II how long our attract and kill and mating disruption formulations last in the field. Furthermore, in order facilitate the application of SPLAT CLM to orchards, we developed, along with colleagues at Michigan State University (Rufus Isaacs, Luis Teixeira, and Keith Mason), has created a mechanical applicator for SPLAT application deemed the "SPLAT-o-Gator." This system allows growers to apply SPLAT CLM to two rows of trees at 10 miles per hour, greatly facilitating the deployment of the product in the field. We will perform larger field trials using the mechanical applicator in Phase II.

Publications

  • Stelinski, L.L., J.R. Miller, and M.E. Rogers. 2008. Mating disruption of citrus leafminer mediated by a non-competitive mechanism at a remarkably low pheromone release rate. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 34: 1107-1113.
  • Stelinski, L.L. and M.E. Rogers. 2008. Factors affecting captures of male citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella, in pheromone-baited traps. Journal of Applied Entomology. 132: 143-150.
  • Gut, L.J., L.L. Stelinski, D.R. Thompson, and J.R. Miller. 2004. Behavior modifying chemicals: prospects and constraints. In: O Koul, G.S. Dhaliwal, and G. Cuperus (eds.) Integrated Pest Management: Potential, Constraints, and Challenges. CABI Press. N.Y., pp. 73-121. pp. 261-311.